Figure Descriptions
Figure 1. Routing flow through the PIAAC instrumentation
A case initialization begins with sampled participants completing a background questionnaire (BQ), with a doorstep interview option for those who don't speak English or Spanish. The next step is a tablet tutorial. After the tutorial, the next step is Stage 1, or the locator.
There are 3 possible paths leading from Stage one. Path 1 is for participants with a failing locator score, and routes to components that meassured basic numeracy and reading skills, followed by post-interview questions. Path 2 is for participants who pass the locator with a low score. Path 2 participants are then assigned Stage 2 testlets for literacy, numeracy, or Adaptive Problem Solving (APS) tasks. Stage 3 assignments are based on performance in Stage 2 and follows the same process of task assignments.
Path 3 is for those who pass the locator with high scores. Twenty-five percent of the participants who passed with high scores were randomly routed directly to the components before completing the assessment tasks. The remaining 75 percent of participants were routed directly to the literacy, numeracy, or APS tasks.
After the assessment tasks, path 2 & 3 participants answered effort and performance questions and then moved to post-interview questions.